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Safety and Efficacy of Fluoxetine in Juvenile Fibromyalgia

An Open-Label Clinical Trial of Fluoxetine Treatment of Juvenile Primary Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00115804
Enrollment
6
Registered
2005-06-27
Start date
2005-06-30
Completion date
2011-02-28
Last updated
2017-02-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Fibromyalgia, Juvenile Primary Fibromyalgia Syndrome (JPFS)

Keywords

Fibromyalgia, Juvenile

Brief summary

The purpose of this research is to conduct an open, pilot trial to assess the efficacy and safety of fluoxetine in the treatment of Juvenile Primary Fibromyalgia Syndrome (JPFS).

Detailed description

Fibromyalgia is a common condition that is often challenging to treat. It is defined by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) as widespread pain of at least 3 months duration in combination with tenderness at 11 or more of 18 specific tender point sites on the body. The prevalence of JPFS in children and adolescents in the general population of the United States is unknown. Studies from Israel, Mexico, and Italy have estimated that the prevalence rate of JPFS in school children ranges from 1.24% to 6.20%, with girls making up the majority of cases. Information from a national registry in the United States indicates that JPFS accounts for about 7.7% of new patient diagnoses in a pediatric rheumatology setting. The mean age of onset of pediatric JPFS is 12 years. As in adults, JPFS has been diagnosed in children and adolescents using the ACR criteria. JPFS often leads to substantial morbidity and disability. For example, adolescents with JPFS reported significantly greater functional disability and greater number of school absences than those with other rheumatic diseases such as juvenile RA or lupus. The presence of high levels of pain and disability at this critical developmental stage place adolescents with JPFS at greater risk for long term social and occupational difficulties. Early diagnosis and effective intervention are therefore of critical importance.

Interventions

DRUGFluoxetine

Fluoxetine po 10-60 mg/day for 12 weeks. Fluoxetine was started at 10 mg once daily. The dose was flexibly dosed based on pain efficacy and tolerability to a final dose between 10 and 60 mg once daily

Sponsors

University of Cincinnati
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Masking description

Open Label

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Female or male outpatients 13 to 18 years of age. * Fulfillment of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for primary fibromyalgia. * Ability to understand and cooperate with study procedures. * Provision of parental written informed consent and verbal and written assent from the adolescent for participation in the study.

Exclusion criteria

* Unwillingness or inability on the part of the parent to provide written informed consent or for the adolescent to provide verbal and written assent. * Lifetime history of psychosis, hypomania or mania. * Diagnosis of alcohol or substance abuse or dependence within 6 months prior to screening visit. * Patients judged to be at serious suicide or homicide risk. * Girls who are pregnant or lactating. Girls of childbearing potential who are not using a medically accepted method of contraception (including barrier or hormonal methods). * Clinically unstable medical or psychiatric conditions that could interfere with the absorption, metabolism, excretion, or safety of fluoxetine or interfere with the assessment of disease severity. * Inability to exclude traumatic injury, regional or structural rheumatic disease, or infectious arthropathy as the etiology of their relevant fibromyalgia symptoms and that would interfere with interpretation of outcome measures (e.g., osteoarthritis, bursitis, tendonitis). * History of an autoimmune disease or inflammatory arthritis, such as systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA). * Treatment with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, tricyclic, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant, or lithium within 2 weeks prior to beginning study medication. * Treatment with analgesic medication (with the exception of acetaminophen and over-the-counter NSAIDs) within one week prior to beginning study medication. * Treatment with any other excluded medication that cannot be discontinued at the screening visit. * Previous treatment with fluoxetine. * Treatment with any investigational medications within 30 days prior to screening.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Average Pain Severity ScoreDaily on average in the past week.The primary outcome measure was average pain severity on the Pediatric Pain Questionnaire's 100-mm visual analog scale. (0=no pain and 100 = severe pain )

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
The Patient Global Impression of Improvementsince baseline, at the time of the assessmentMeasures the patient's impression of improvement since baseline on a scale of 1 (very much better) to 7 (very much worse).
The Functional Disability Inventory-child VersionOver the last few days.A self-report inventory that assesses patients' ability to perform a variety of daily physical, social, and recreational activities. The scale ranges from 0 (no disability) to 60 (severe disability).
The Functional Disability Inventory-parent VersionOver the last few days.Consists of the same 15 items as the child version but allows the parent to provide their perception of the child's difficulty in performing daily physical, social, and recreational activities. The score ranges from 0 (no disability) to 60 (severe disability).
The Clinical Global Impression of Severityat the time of the assessmentMeasures severity of illness at the time of the assessment on a scale of 1 (normal, not at all ill) to 7 (among the most extremely ill).
Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for ChildrenOver the past week.A 39-item self-report inventory that assesses four areas of anxiety symptoms (emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral). Score ranges from 0 (no anxiety symptoms) to 117 (severe anxiety symptoms).
Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Modified for ChildrenOver the past week.A 19 item self-report instrument that measures overall impact of fibromyalgia including assessments of function, pain, fatigue, sleep quality, stiffness, anxiety and depression. Score range from 0 (no impact) to 100 (severe impact).
Children's Depression InventoryOver the past 2 weeks.A 27-item, self-report measure of depressive symptoms with a score range of 0 (no depressive symptoms) to 54 (severe depressive symptoms.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Recruitment details

Female or male patients from Children's Hospital pediatric outpatient rheumatology clinic were eligible for the trial if they were 13 to 17 years and met study criteria.

Pre-assignment details

Patients who met entry criteria for juvenile fibromyalgia but did not meet any exclusion criteria.

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Fluoxetine
All eligible patients were given fluoxetine
6
Total6

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyAdverse Event2

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicFluoxetine
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
6 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
0 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
0 Participants
Age, Continuous15.3 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.25
Average Pain Severity62 mm
Region of Enrollment
United States
6 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
6 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
1 / 6
serious
Total, serious adverse events
1 / 6

Outcome results

Primary

Average Pain Severity Score

The primary outcome measure was average pain severity on the Pediatric Pain Questionnaire's 100-mm visual analog scale. (0=no pain and 100 = severe pain )

Time frame: Daily on average in the past week.

Population: 6 participants out of 10 screened met entry criteria. Two were terminated due to serious adverse events (SAEs).

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineAverage Pain Severity Score62 mmStandard Deviation 11.9
Secondary

Children's Depression Inventory

A 27-item, self-report measure of depressive symptoms with a score range of 0 (no depressive symptoms) to 54 (severe depressive symptoms.

Time frame: Over the past 2 weeks.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineChildren's Depression Inventory14.2 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 10.3
Secondary

Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Modified for Children

A 19 item self-report instrument that measures overall impact of fibromyalgia including assessments of function, pain, fatigue, sleep quality, stiffness, anxiety and depression. Score range from 0 (no impact) to 100 (severe impact).

Time frame: Over the past week.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineFibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Modified for Children55.1 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 23.3
Secondary

Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children

A 39-item self-report inventory that assesses four areas of anxiety symptoms (emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral). Score ranges from 0 (no anxiety symptoms) to 117 (severe anxiety symptoms).

Time frame: Over the past week.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineMultidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children52 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 30.9
Secondary

The Clinical Global Impression of Severity

Measures severity of illness at the time of the assessment on a scale of 1 (normal, not at all ill) to 7 (among the most extremely ill).

Time frame: at the time of the assessment

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineThe Clinical Global Impression of Severity5 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 1.1
Secondary

The Functional Disability Inventory-child Version

A self-report inventory that assesses patients' ability to perform a variety of daily physical, social, and recreational activities. The scale ranges from 0 (no disability) to 60 (severe disability).

Time frame: Over the last few days.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineThe Functional Disability Inventory-child Version24.2 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 12.5
Secondary

The Functional Disability Inventory-parent Version

Consists of the same 15 items as the child version but allows the parent to provide their perception of the child's difficulty in performing daily physical, social, and recreational activities. The score ranges from 0 (no disability) to 60 (severe disability).

Time frame: Over the last few days.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineThe Functional Disability Inventory-parent Version19.2 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 12.4
Secondary

The Patient Global Impression of Improvement

Measures the patient's impression of improvement since baseline on a scale of 1 (very much better) to 7 (very much worse).

Time frame: since baseline, at the time of the assessment

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
FluoxetineThe Patient Global Impression of Improvement1.5 units on a scaleStandard Deviation 0.5

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026